Wednesday, January 03, 2007

l'Italia bella

It is often identified by the sobriquet “the eternal city” a place where you can smell history and get drunk in art and sculpture. Rome leaves you in awe with the sheer landscape it posses. Even the insipid hostel where we stayed might fit in as a vintage architectural masterpiece in any other city. Infact after spending four days in Rome I could easily give any other museum in the world an ’uh.. U poor urchin’ look!!.






Landed up in Vatican just in time for the midnight mass on 24th December and the St.Peter’s square is mighty impressive with the endless space and charming arches…Though was surprised that the square never filled up on Christmas eve. Even our church in Chettipuzha would be overflowing with faithful’s on such a big day..


piazza venezia..this mighty building towers over the rome landscape



The best part of day 1 was a quite expensive bottle of wine handed over to me by someone who had a pass to get inside the church. The Swiss guards infact don’t allow anyone in with any kind of beverage. As my friend and myself was pleasantly surprised with the ‘blessing’ from god we couldn’t help but recollecting a biblical incident of the almighty giving bread and wine to the needy.



for a few moments i was a gladiator..........



Next day we spend walking through the streets of Rome savoring the pizzas and ice creams that were being sold like hot cakes!!

There is a fountain in Rome called the Trevi fountain..Legend says that if you throw 3 coins in it you would marry an Italian…And the legend spread like wildfire among our group and all of a sudden we could see people scrambling for coins in their pockets…I have been threatened with dire consequences if the legend doesn’t turn out to be true…Lol!!!


Went to Pompeii and saw the ruins destroyed by the Vesuvius volcano. My friend was complaining that we couldn’t see the volcano explode when we reached the place..

Vatican museum is a priceless treasure house..A place where you can see the full splendour of Michael Angelo, Raphael and Bernini.You can easily spend ages in there if you want to admire each brush strokes that made those masterpieces.A blog entry in not enough to describe all I saw in Rome.




If Rome was chaotic in nature because of the crowds..Florence was graceful.Never wonder all the great artist da vinci…Michael angelo... were born here..Beautiful churches and even more beautiful frescoes painted inside..If rome is the museum Florence is where all the craftsmen work on the artifacts.. Shopping in Florence could be really pleasant if you have a few millions in your bank..Gucci,Versace,Dior,D&G just stand a glass wall apart seductively…I could hardly see anyone going in those shops..Leaning tower of Pisa was leaning more than I expected it to be..But what stuck me about the place was Pisa was a beautiful quite typical Italian town..

Had exotic sea food out there..Veggies in our group looked at us with awe when a few of us were busy dissecting a squid, which seemed to be quite alive due to absence of any garnishing.. Last leg was in Venice…Our group seemed to be quite out of place in the romantic city. I have never felt the absence of a girlfriend more than in Venice.


The trip was tiring but with lasting memories and desire to see more....Italy is indeed a paradise country..

Being onsite gives you the pleasure of indulging in luxuries like buying things you always dreamt..Photography is not my cup of tea..but the new cam i bought gave some quite good pics...



florence...the city is stunning at night........



Pisa is famous for the leaning tower..bought i loved the place for this........





this was taken in the grand canal in venice..




This cute kid never posed for the snap..


Pisa once again...


just outside the hotel in venice..I could have easily stepped into the water..



venice canals..chk out the gondola





the last sunset of the year in venice..






25 comments:

Sasi Kumar said...

beautiful pictues

Neha said...

man!!!U had an awesome time..U have no idea how J I am feeling of u :(
I am assuming that photography is not allowed inside the Vatican, because I cannot see any pics here of the place...

silverine said...

That's a cool camera you have got and Italy looks nice!!!

My date with the Trevi fountain is set. I am going there by hook or by crook or by Alitalia :P

The "Pisa once again" pix so good!! Italy here I come :)

mathew said...

@sasikumar

thanks to my beloved camera..:-P
although too late...merry christmas and new year greetings to u as well!!


@Neha

yeah..really awesome time..they allow photography inside the baslica..thought not inside the sistine chapel..it was worth skippin taking snaps to admire the beautful artefacts inside..

and nice to know am able to make people jealous!

@Anju

yeah..I have pledged oath to my camera to stand by her in happiness and hardships.!!..

meanwhile few folks did customised trevi fountain cermony..some tossed sterlings to get brits..some rupee to get indian beaus..So much for a legend..:-P

I suggest italy to anyone..infact the people are a lot friendlier compared to european standards..

cheers..

Priya said...

Mthew: Just awesome pictures. Il iked the bridge with lights and the narrow street. No wonder someone will use it as header image one day. You never know.

Did you carry our wishes too to vatican?? Good you had a wonderfult rip and was ther for christmas.

Happy new year to you.

Keshi said...

r these pics from Heaven? Absolutely breath-taking Matt!!!

Keshi.

Rai said...

WOOOOOOOOOOOW! I love the 5th photo and the Grand Canal's. Though I was hoping to see a few good Italian men:-) I am more than overwhelmed with what I got to see here.

It's informative and really a nice post.

PV said...

WOW... not only have u walked my dream, but have projected it back on my mind...

Cinderella said...

Hey man......surfing at the station in Chennai right now..just coudnt get me hands off when i spotted the cafe here !!!

Hope you had a bash on new year.
Hoping to get back to blogging real soon s soon as i settle up.

Miss ya.
*hugs*

VIDYA said...

AWESUM PICS......wowww.....

HAPPPY NEW YEAR!

:-)

didya throw in 3 coins??? ;-)


i lowedd te pic of the bridge.


vidya

SeePearrl said...

vowwww....beautiful pics!!

~*. D E E P A .* ~ said...

wow

mathew said...

@priya

Yeah..Sure carried all ur wishes to Vatican..it was lot of fun..

@Keshi

There is heaven all around us..we dont happen to see it!! :-P

@Rai

Only italian footballers are good looking..Dont raise ur expectations.. :-P

@Prasanth

Start any european trip with Italy..u gonna enjoy it.

@Cinderella

Lol!!..so u are a chronic surfer!! :-)
hopin to see u active soon..enjoy..
cheers..

@Vidya

Sure..I was sure throwing few indian rupees..Lol!!

@Whiteforest..

thanx buddy..hope you had a great time as well..

@Deepa

:-)...are u still having ur ocassional trips to blore..

Neer said...

cryptic? really?? :) i envy you man!! :) amazing pics and cool post!

Schaan said...

Cool pics....
Happy New Year.

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

Awesome Pics , when I go for the European tour next year :) I will make sure to visit these places :D

mathew said...

@neers

Lol..sometimes..wish to see more of those..

@Siddharth

thanx for dropping by..belated new year greeting to you as well..

@nariyal chutney

thanx for dropping by..fundo name u have..:-P

i read in ur blog of ur resolution to back pack in europe..good luck..

Cuckoo said...

Heyyy I know I am late. But couldn't resist myself to comment on this post.
Awesome pics... reminded me of my days in Italy.

For how many days were you there? And more imp.. what camera do you have ? :P

b v n said...

Hey Great shots man...oh yr keen eye :-)

nicely done !

Priyankari said...

Great post!
U visited a really lovely place. After reading your awesome description and seeing those pics, I too long to go to there...
Though "photography is not your cup of tea", u must have taken some more pics of florence...if yes, please upload them here too :)

Still Searching said...

Awww.. am missing my onsite trip now!! Also went to Rome and Milan when I was there.. I totally loved Rome.. its very splendid, and on a grand scale! Which country are u based in? Its nice to see so many people spending time and money going travelling.. the experience and memories really stay with u for a long time!

mathew said...

@Cuckoo

I enjoyed myself for 10 days..was all fun..and the cam was sony cyber shot H2..

@bvn

thanks a lot bud..

@Priyankari

Yeah..i dont think i have really better snaps than these..i ll sure put up once i sort em up..

@Ruchika

thanks for dropping by..me too fell in love with Rome.with the sheer size of the buildings..moi now scratching head in germany!!

am seeing as many places as possible..u never get a second chance!! ;-P

mystic rose said...

awesome pics!
I love those richly done frescoes you find in venice.

Natasha said...

Don't tell me you clicked those pictures!! Either you are lying or being very humble about your photography skills! I'd kill for a picture like those in Pisa & Venice! The night pic of the Colosseum and the first pic are "Breath-taking"!

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

that's a nice post.
mine was a three day visit-literally ran thru italy-intend to visit again- really worth another visit-but a detailed one.
lovely pictures